Texas School District to Undergo Energy Efficiency Project, Expected to Save $2.8 Million Over 15 Years

La Villa Independent School District (ISD) in Texas announced the kickoff of a comprehensive energy efficiency project that will improve performance of the district’s facilities, as well as air conditioning comfort and lighting in the learning environment and further reduce energy costs and carbon emissions. Once completed, the district will reduce utility expenditures by 30%, totaling more than $2,840,501 in guaranteed energy savings over the next 15 years.

In recent years, La Villa ISD has been challenged with increasing energy and operational costs due to aging infrastructure that was consuming increasing amounts of energy over time. La Villa ISD will install modern LED lighting, building controls, and heating and air conditioning equipment throughout the district without being a financial burden for the community. This project is largely financed by the state Comptroller’s Texas LoanSTAR Revolving Loan Program. The district will be able to repay the low-interest loan from the energy cost savings realized by the project. La Villa ISD will save on energy and maintenance expenses annually over the life of the project, while simultaneously streamlining district operations and enhancing the student experience and classroom learning environment.

The latest project phase includes renovations that will be made to all of the district’s facilities to create an enhanced learning environment. Improvements include a variety of energy efficiency upgrades such as:

• Enhancing indoor and outdoor lighting with LED technology
• Replacing outdated heating and air conditioning equipment
• Providing a comprehensive building automation system
• Optimizing copier, projector, water cooler and vending machine equipment run time with Wi-Fi plug load controllers

In addition to energy cost savings, the La Villa ISD project will have a sizable environmental impact on the local community. La Villa ISD has partnered with Schneider Electric for the project.

We are currently accepting submissions for the 2020 Environment + Energy Leader Awards. Learn more here.